News from the Library of Congress

November 18, 1996

Library of Congress Named Finalist in Program Awards for "Extraordinary Achievement" on the Information Superhighway

Library Is One of Six Finalists in Education Category

The American Memory historical collections, available from
the National Digital Library (NDL) Program of the Library of
Congress, are among the six finalists in the Education category
of the National Information Infrastructure (NII) Awards Program,
one of the leading forums for the recognition of "extraordinary
achievement" on the Internet.

American Memory, one of 60 finalists in 10 categories, was
chosen from a field of nearly 1,000 nominees. The NII Awards
Program recognizes work in 10 categories that "touch on all areas
of America's work, play and community life."

"The Library is honored to be recognized as a major
contributor to the intellectual content of this electronic era,"
said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. "We are firmly
committed to making universally accessible our rich holdings to
help revitalize education and literacy nationwide."

American Memory (http://www.loc.gov/) is a project that aims
to make freely available on the Internet millions of rare and
unique Library of Congress items relating to American history.
Current on-line collections include selected Civil War
photographs of Mathew Brady; papers and photographs donated by
Harry Houdini; daguerreotype photographs; documents relating to
slavery, the civil rights movement and women's suffrage; sound
recordings of political leaders; and early motion pictures of
vaudeville acts, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and other
subjects.

"The finalist award to American Memory is an outstanding
achievement and a real acknowledgment of the Library of
Congress's creativity in using electronic communications to
create new possibilities," said James Hake, Chairman of the NII
Awards Program. "The Library serves as an example of the kind of
leadership and dedication that are critical to our continued
development as an information-era society."

The winners will be announced during a ceremony to be held
Dec. 3 in New York City. A complete list of finalists is
available from the National Information Infrastructure web site
at http://www.gii-awards.com/.

Nominees in the NII Awards Program range from corporations
and entrepreneurs to grass roots community organizations and
individuals. They are competing for awards in Arts and
Entertainment, Business, Children, Community, Education, Next
Generation, Government and Health, and in two special awards, the
NII Public Access Awards, sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service,
and the NII Telecollaboration Award, sponsored by AT&T.
Categories are presided over by separate panels of judges
comprised of recognized experts in each area.

The NII Awards Program is made possible by a wide range of
supporters, including IBM, the sponsor of this year's awards
ceremony.

"IBM is delighted to support the NII Awards," said Irving
Wladawsky-Berger, general manager of IBM's Internet Division.
"The NII Awards recognize leaders who have successfully applied
network technology and addresses issues of how society works with
information in a connected world."

Only two years old, the NII Awards Program has emerged as
the one of the most important competitions for the recognition of
Information Superhighway uses and has won praise from a broad
range of industry and community leaders, including Vice President
Albert Gore, who cited the NII's efforts to reward and showcase
these especially beneficial uses of the Information Superhighway.

The NII Awards are supported by more than 70 sponsors. More
information about the NII Awards is available at http://www.gii-awards.com.